Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier's Arc

Chapter 2 of 5

Three clients had come through the warehouse doors in six weeks. One wanted him to find a stolen water filter. One wanted protection from bandits who turned out to be kids throwing rocks. The third spat on his floor and called him a Ranger sellout. Bulk sat at the desk and stared at the warthog on the wall outside through the grimy window. The rusted bench outside caught movement. Someone sat down on it, stayed there for ten minutes, then stood and walked away. An hour later they came back. This time they stayed. Bulk watched the figure through the window — yellow jacket, hands tucked in pockets. He knew that jacket. He'd seen it on the overpass six weeks ago when he'd almost said the thing he couldn't take back. The bench creaked as Aisha stood and walked toward the door. She came in without knocking, carrying a leather journal under one arm. Bulk stayed at the desk. The chunk of pink concrete he'd pulled from the overpass sat next to Skull's figurine — he'd told himself it was good salvage, but he knew better. Aisha set the journal on the desk between them. It was open to a page covered in her handwriting. "I wrote down everything I was afraid to say that night," she said. "Figured if you could almost tell me, I should finish what I started." She pushed it toward him. "Your turn." Bulk looked at the page. Her words were right there — grief, survivor's guilt, the weight of the suit. Everything he'd been carrying alone was already written in someone else's hand. He could walk away like he did on the overpass. He could keep Skull locked inside where it was safe. But she'd come back after six weeks and put her pain on paper first. He picked up the pen she'd left on the journal and wrote one sentence: "Skull died while I was still wearing the suit." His hand shook. Aisha read it and nodded once. She didn't try to fix it or fill the silence. She just sat down on the floor next to the desk and waited. Bulk wrote another sentence. Then another. The warehouse stayed quiet except for the scratch of pen on paper.